A Picture of the Past
by a-word-nerd
Summary: Finnick and Annie tell their six-year-old son about their old friend, Mags.


"Mommy, who's this?"

Annie looked down to see her six-year-old son, Finn, staring up at her with his father's sea-green eyes and holding a framed photograph. Annie held her hand out. "Can I see?"

Finn handed her the frame and stood on his tiptoes so he could still see it. Annie felt a jolt in her stomach as she realized which picture it was—it was of Finnick and Mags, standing on the porch of Mags' house in District 4, a spectacular view of the ocean behind them. They were laughing, their arms around each other. Annie remembered taking it. Finn must have gotten it off the bedside table in her and Finnick's bedroom.

After taking a few seconds to get her emotions in check, Annie took Finn's hand and led him to the couch in their living room. She sat down and pulled him onto her lap, handing the picture back to him. "Well, Finn, you know that's Daddy." She pointed at Finnick.

Finn nodded excitedly. "Uh huh!"

Annie then pointed at Mags. "And this lady's name is Mags."

"Mags?" Finn smiled. "I like that name."

Annie smiled at him. "She was a very good friend to Daddy and me. Daddy knew her for a long time. In fact, he was probably about your age when he first met her."

Finn's eyes became as wide as saucers, as though the idea of his dad having once been six years old like him was simply unfathomable. "Wow! So Daddy must have knew her for like…like…a billion gajillion years!"

"Talking about me?"

Annie and Finn turned to find Finnick standing in the doorway, smiling. He had just gotten off the fishing boat, so his already unmanageable hair was windswept.

"Always," Annie replied as Finn giggled. "Actually, I was just telling Finn about Mags." She looked Finnick straight in the eye as she spoke.

Finnick's eyes flashed with sadness for a split second, but he recovered quickly and crossed the living room to sit down next to his wife and son. "That's a pretty cool story, huh, buddy?"

"Daddy, Mommy says that you knew Mags for a really really really long time!" Finn said.

Finnick nodded and smiled at him. "I sure did. She was a wonderful person. In fact, she took care of me when I was a little boy, just like Mommy and I take care of you now. And then, when I got bigger, she taught me to do all sorts of things, like fishing and tying nets and making hooks."

"Wow!" Finn looked intently at the picture. Annie and Finnick could see the wheels turning in his brain, and they both knew what he was going to ask next before he asked it. "Where's Mags now?"

Finnick exchanged a look with Annie over the little boy's head and nodded slightly, indicating that he'd handle this one. He felt that he owed it to Mags. "Well, Finn…before you were born, there were some bad guys that your Mommy and I knew. They liked to hurt people because they thought it was fun."

Finn nodded. "Like the bullies at school! My teacher says that bullies push people down and take their lunch because they think it's fun, but it's not. It's really mean."

"That's right," said Finnick, glad that he hadn't gone too far and scared the little boy. At least he could make sense of it in words he understood. "So…Mags was a very good friend to Mommy and me, and we were all trying to stop the bad guys from hurting people anymore. But Mags was so brave that she would have rather gotten hurt herself than let other people get hurt instead."

Finn gasped. "That's _really_ brave," he said in an awed whisper.

"It is," Finnick agreed. "So, buddy, Mags isn't here anymore because she saved my life, and Mommy's life. She was so brave that she went away so we could stay here and take care of you."

"Ohhhh." Finn nodded, very solemn for a six-year-old. He was quiet for a minute, and then looked back at the picture. "Thank you, Mags. If you weren't so brave, then I would have never met Mommy and Daddy. And they take really good care of me. So I'm really glad that I met them. I just wish I could have met you too."

Annie and Finnick looked at each other over their son's head, both holding back tears. "Hey, Finn, why don't you go to the kitchen and we'll decide what to have for lunch, hmm?" Annie said.

"Okay!" Finn jumped off the couch and scampered off to the kitchen.

As soon as he was gone, Annie threw her arms around Finnick. "You did great," she whispered in his ear.

Finnick buried his face in Annie's hair. "I still miss her," he whispered.

"Of course you do," Annie replied. "I do too. But I know she's proud of you, wherever she is."

Finnick smiled to himself. If Mags was proud of him, then he had to be doing something right.


End file.
